Revelations
by DrKCooper
Summary: Individual one-shots from the perspective of each member of the team as they come to the realization of what it is Jane and Maura have. Rizzles, ultimately. Rating may change as story progresses. Spans the length of the television series.
1. Chapter 1: Frost

_Disclaimer: All recognizable _Rizzoli &amp; Isles_ characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners including, but not limited to Tess Gerritsen. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fan fiction story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No financial gain is associated with the publishing of this story. No copyright infringement is intended._

_Author's Note: I had these pieces sitting on my hard drive waiting for me to put them together in a larger fic I had preliminarily titled "Realizations." Then the finale, "Family Matters" (5x18), happened and I decided I could make the one-shots into chapters from the perspective of one character. This first chapter will be from the POV of Frost and, as you'll see, is written as a missing scene from the season 1 finale, "When the Gun Goes Bang, Bang". Each of these chapters will be Rizzles revelations—how a character comes to realize what exists between Jane and Maura. It will all come together and make sense when I reach the POV of Maura and her revelations from the sweat lodge visit in the finale. Hang in there with me. –dkc_

**Revelations**

**Chapter One: Frost**

Watching as paramedics loaded Jane onto the gurney and wheeled her into the ambulance was the most helpless moment of Maura Isles' life. The detective was pale, her body covered in far too much of her own blood.

"I'm going with her!" Maura insisted, bursting out of Frost's arms, arms that had been keeping her out of the way of the first responders.

When the paramedics looked to him, he nodded. There was no stopping Dr. Isles in this situation. She had made up her mind.

The ambulance driver was yelling at the numerous cop cars to clear a path. SWAT vehicles started moving out of the way as Korsak ran down the street directing traffic.

Stepping toward the ambulance, he could see the paramedics attaching lines to his partner and one using a pair of scissors to cut the blood soaked tee shirt from Jane's body. It felt wrong to see her like this.

"They've about got the road cleared," he heard Korsak behind him, panting. "Go with them."

These two men had butted heads when it came to the woman on the gurney, but Korsak didn't hesitate to send her partner with her.

"Take care of Dr. Isles," he instructed.

Patting Frost on the back, Korsak went around the ambulance to make sure the driver was able to maneuver through the chaos that had come to BPD. Frost took a step into the back of the ambulance, pulling the doors closed behind him. The large ambulance allowed for him to be somewhat inconspicuous while riding along. As one paramedic buckled in near Jane's head in a drop seat, the other continued changing out bloody gauze and monitoring vitals.

The siren let out a piercing noise before slowly moving forward. His eyes brimmed with tears as he looked out the back window and saw every member of the BPD stopping to stand at attention as the ambulance carrying their wounded colleague pulled away. Everyone knew that had Jane not done what she had, shooting herself to take out Bobby, the men who had attacked the precinct would have got away with it and who knows, taken Jane's life and that of her younger brother. He heard the second siren behind him echoing the first, the ambulance carrying Frankie Rizzoli following them.

"Hang on, Jane," Maura's broken voice was the only sound other than the machines in the small space. "Don't leave me, don't you leave me."

Unable to watch the distressed doctor enduring this trauma on her own, Frost stepped forward and sat to the side of her. She had Jane's hand in her own, tears streaming down her face and blood, Jane's blood, all over her hands, arms and dress. Her sole focus was on her best friend. She likely didn't even notice when one of Frost's strong arms wrapped around her shoulders, offering support to her trembling body.

Maura leaned closer to Jane, her face close to the woman's ear. To her, they were the only two people in the world right then.

"Do not leave me, Jane Rizzoli. Do you hear me?" she was pleading. "You cannot leave me. I love you, you idiot. I love you."

Frost blinked, the words were loud enough for him to hear. Reality set in. It was as if he had known all along, but hearing Maura say the words confirmed what he somehow always suspected. These two people, these beautiful souls, loved each other. Of course they did.

Jane had to make it. He said a silent prayer for his partner, for her health, and for Maura who needed her to be okay.

_To be continued…_


	2. Chapter 2: Korsak

_Author's Note: You'll notice this piece doesn't tie to a particular episode, but it will fit chronologically between the scene with Frost in my previous chapter and what I have planned for the next one. I may revisit characters, too, so I'm not keeping myself in a box that allows only one chapter per character right now. Thanks for your reviews. I'm glad this seems like a good idea to someone other than me. -dkc_

**Chapter 2: Korsak**

If he had had children with one of his three wives, he would have been very proud to have a daughter like Jane. As her partner, the older detective had the privilege of seeing her come into her own in Boston Homicide. He had watched her learn and grow, offering his support and advice as often as he could.

He had let her down once, not getting to her in time to save her from Charles Hoyt, and he would never forgive himself for it. He worried she might not forgive him, either. After Hoyt he noticed the evolution. She had become increasingly cynical; easily frustrated by the laws she had once found it possible to work within. She teetered between control and chaos for a long time. But then everything changed.

Jane Rizzoli met Maura Isles.

Watching from the outside, Korsak saw Jane finally relax. It was as if she was comfortable in her own skin again. He noticed the way Jane found the support she needed without having to ask. He saw her rushing to the doctor's side to defend Maura from those who didn't understand her and might hurt her. The detective had put the fear of God into every man at the precinct. Slowly Korsak began to notice that Jane was no longer putting up walls all around her, no longer afraid of showing even a hint of vulnerability.

He had never known Jane to be anything less than confident, but with the M.E. she stumbled over her words, tried even harder to be a better cop and person, worried about her reputation and even blushed.

It wasn't long before the detective was inviting the doctor out to the Dirty Robber and the Rizzoli clan was welcoming her with open arms. Maura Isles quickly became a part of the little band of misfits that was their family.

The attack on the precinct had been terrifying for everyone involved. Vince knew that the person to shoulder the majority of the fear that day was Dr. Isles. He had no idea how she was able to keep Frankie alive, but he suspected it had everything to do with the doctor's loyalty to Jane. Dozens of officers had watched Jane shoot through her own abdomen to take out a dirty cop. Dozens of officers cringed at the sight. But it was Maura that carried the weight of that sight with her. It was Maura who took the longest to recover from it and maybe, in many ways, she hadn't entirely recovered.

Watching the two friends in the months after the shooting was remarkably clarifying for the older detective. Something had changed between them and though no one spoke of it, it was evident in the way they interacted with one another. He watched them one night at Maura's home for their weekly family dinner and was amazed at how he had never seen it before. Vince Korsak was not an oblivious man. He watched as Maura fretted over the crumpled collar of Jane's shirt, the way she served Jane before worrying about her own food. He noticed how their looks at one another lingered, Maura's more than Jane's. Was it possible that Jane didn't know that something had changed? Was it possible that Jane didn't know that her best friend harbored intense feelings for her? Korsak couldn't imagine that being the case.

It wasn't until Jane had been cleared to return to work that it seemed Maura Isles was able to take a deep breath. It was as if she had been holding her breath since the shooting, afraid that Jane might break into a million pieces. Perhaps if you actually hold a gushing wound in your own hands, hoping to hold back the flow of life-giving blood, you have a different sense of a person's fragility. Perhaps Maura had never stopped feeling as if she was holding Jane together.

All of these curiosities about his former partner and the M.E. swirled in his mind as he watched from a discrete distance from where the two women were sitting in the homicide bullpen. It was late, well after midnight, and everyone had gone home. Their latest case wasn't even close to being solved. They had agreed to take an hour break to regroup. It shouldn't have surprised the detective to find the two friends huddled together at Jane's desk.

They didn't speak in hushed whispers, but the closeness and way in which they looked at one another suggested they had a secret from the world that they were determined to keep. Lightness danced on Jane's face, a look he couldn't remember seeing in a very long time. Maura's adorable, goofy laugh echoed in the four walls of the department. He suddenly felt uncomfortable watching the two of them as Maura's hand rested on Jane's bicep and she leaned closer, lips clearly on the path toward Jane's. He took a step back to give them privacy just as the detective's phone rang on her desk. He was relieved, afraid he'd encroached on something very personal to them, but when he stepped back within eyeshot he noticed a look of regret on the medical examiner's face and what he could only describe as panic on Detective Rizzoli's.

He shrugged his shoulders. Jane would figure it out. If a three-times divorced man can see something as obvious as the love between the two of them, Jane would come around.

_To be continued…_


	3. Chapter 3: Maura

_Author's Note: The two biggest moments in the relationship of Jane and Maura came during "Gone Daddy Gone" (2x9) and "Remember Me" (2x10), in my humble opinion. It should come as no surprise that I'm using bits of both episodes in this chapter. It's also a bit longer than the first two for obvious reasons. It comes to my attention that if you haven't seen the entire series, you may not be able to follow some of this piece due to how heavily I rely on the episodes. I apologize to those of you who may feel lost. I can't write or imagine this piece playing out any other way. -dkc_

**Chapter Three: Maura**

Jane Rizzoli was a frustratingly stubborn, beautifully complex human being. Since the doctor had met the detective she had become quite aware of how these characteristics made Jane who she was. In the last several months, Maura had been tormented by Jane's stubbornness.

It didn't begin with the shooting. No, the tension Maura felt with Jane began long before then. She had fallen hard for her best friend. But there hadn't been a sudden epiphany on her part. Maura had never been the kind of person that wasn't in tune with her feelings to the degree that one day she awoke to any surprising realizations, especially something as serious as being in love.

The list of reasons for arriving at an understanding of her feelings for Jane was lengthy. Jane had defended Maura, been jealous of those who showed interest in the doctor, comforted her, opened her life and family to her friend, she dropped everything when called upon and taught Maura more about friendship than an entire lifetime of experience had been able to. The very thought of losing Jane had brought Maura to her breaking point. She could no longer imagine life without her friend. However, knowing this didn't make Jane any less frustrating.

If Jane Rizzoli had feelings for Maura, she was playing her cards close to her chest. At times it seemed as if they were nearing an understanding, but then Jane turned inward and hid from whatever scared her. Knowing Jane as well as she did, Maura read Jane's fear as one of two things: A fear that she was part of something she couldn't control or a fear that feeling something for Maura could be harmful in some way.

They played an elaborate cat and mouse game, neither entirely sure which was the cat and which the mouse.

They flirted, they gazed and their touches lingered. What had begun as comforting closeness on a couch at the end of a tough case became something bordering on casual cuddling after several glasses of wine and a movie. They didn't speak of it. No, they certainly didn't speak of whatever this dance was. Maura assumed as long as it was innocent closeness it wasn't necessary they analyze it. But what did Jane think of it all? As well as she knew her, there was no way for the doctor to truly know what her closest friend thought of what happened between them. That is, there hadn't been a way until Paddy Doyle had his men essentially abduct the M.E.

Sexually tense moments shared between the two beautiful women hadn't resulted in anything, nothing of consequence anyway. Moments of pretending they were a couple for Giovanni's benefit didn't even feel awkward afterward. The various untoward happenings during their case at Merch almost a year previously had only resulted in an interesting conversation about what their types were and the poor cover of it mattering only "if they liked women." They spent many nights together, more and more of them in the same bed until Jane would inevitably pull back and insist on going home to her apartment or sleeping in Maura's guestroom. And they had almost kissed. Twice.

Yet it wasn't the sexually charged moments between them that pushed them closest to a point of no return. The shooting had forced Maura to speak her truth to her friend. Granted, Jane was unconscious at the time, but she had told the detective she loved her. And while Jane didn't say it in so many words, when Maura called Jane after having been taken from the morgue by Paddy Doyle's men, it was clear to her that Jane loved her, too.

_Whatever you want, I can get it._

The words Jane spoke heatedly and desperately into the phone when Maura had called told the medical examiner nearly everything she needed to know. It was the look on Jane's face when she burst into her apartment where she told Maura to meet her that told her the rest. Jane loved her.

Maura Isles' remaining question was not of what she meant to Jane, but to what end. What did Jane Rizzoli want?

Whatever questions remained, whatever doubt, would be erased by what would shake them to their footing next. When their lives were in the balance was when they knew most clearly what they meant to one another.

She could hear sobbing, Jane's sobbing. Her body wouldn't respond to her prompting. She couldn't move. She felt a hand on her arm and the trickle of warm, sticky blood on her neck.

"Dr. Isles?" she recognized Detective Frost's voice as she focused on his concerned voice. "Can you sit up?"

It wasn't the first time the young man's strong arms had wrapped around her in a time of trauma. As her mind buzzed, matching the buzzing of the prison's fluorescent lighting overhead, as she grappled for control and solid ground, she thought about the sound the last time those strong, caring arms held her. She remembered screaming Jane's name. The cop didn't sob that day. She didn't make a sound. All Maura remembered hearing the day of the shooting was her own strangled scream, her own words muffled by the sirens around them and Jane's breathing.

"Jane," the doctor mumbled as Frost helped her into a sitting position.

"She's okay," he answered, refusing to let the woman attempt to stand.

Maura heard the sobbing stop as she was finally able to make out Jane's figure crumpled against Detective Korsak. It was then that she saw the man on the floor with a scalpel in his chest. It was _him_. Jane the detective, Jane the dragon slayer.

"Maura."

The way Jane spoke her name was strangled by emotion. She caught frantic dark eyes, eyes that had been filled with rage moments before. The detective had blood dripping down her neck.

"Maur," she spoke softer, stepping out of Vince's arms and walking toward the seated doctor.

Their eyes had never said this much. A silent conversation shared between two people who had waged a war, surviving a terrible ordeal. Dark eyes promised safety—both the physical safety of the doctor and the safety of their friendship. A furrowed, tormented brow told Maura that the threat had been dispatched. Hazel orbs, still jarred from the electrical current that had pulsed through them, offered gratitude. But they also asked the oft unspoken question: _Are you okay?_

The first touch carried as much current as the device that had nearly incapacitated Maura. Jane's touch was a testament to how close they had come to never feeling one another's closeness again. They needed to feel, to believe again that they would live to comfort one another and touch one another.

"I'm so sorry," Jane's voice cracked and a sob escaped. She wrapped her arms around her friend, whispering words that a retreating Frost and distracted Korsak could not hear.

"It's okay," Maura whispered repeatedly. "We're okay."

They held one another like this until CSU arrived.

_To be continued…_


	4. Chapter 4: Tommy

_Author's Note: I'm curious if thus far you think the order of the characters' individual revelations is accurate or if you would have it go a different way. Thoughts? Note a slight change in rating due to language. -dkc_

**Chapter Four: Tommy**

He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it. He had been spending time with Maura for several weeks. He had flirted relentlessly. And she remained at a distance.

He had leaned in to kiss her, a thank you and a hope for something more, but she backed away. She turned him down.

He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it.

Jane had been furious with him. In fact, so had Frankie. Not because he'd been arrested, not once he was cleared. Both were furious with him for making a move on Maura. He thought it had been because she was now a part of the family. He thought wrong.

He heard the rumblings and rumors in the station. The gorgeous medical examiner was at odds with the hotheaded detective. It all came down to his arrest. He heard the officer at booking demean his sister. It infuriated him. He heard the caustic remarks about which of them would be sleeping on the couch. The relationship between cop and doctor was apparently a popular topic in the precinct. It took sitting behind bars to hear it.

They mocked the detective's mood. The words 'doghouse' and 'pussy whipped' were thrown around. His hackles rose when he heard a passing cop whisper 'Detective Dyke's kid brother.' While the comments caused all of the puzzle pieces in his mind to fall into place, his protectiveness for his sister and for Maura hit an all-time high. Righteous indignation overtook Tommy.

As he sat stewing about the things he had overheard, he thought back to the time following the shooting and how when he had visited his sister he found Maura there doing everything possible to make Jane comfortable. It wasn't easy, either. His sister was ornery and stubborn. Maura took her share of Jane's foul moods and carried on as if it were nothing. She cared for Jane as only a doctor could, but also did so with a love he now realized was far more expansive than that of a best friend.

How had he not seen it?

When he had been released from prison, he was surprised to find Jane had made friends with someone as refined as Maura Isles. Not only was Maura striking, she was brilliant and polished. She was his sister's opposite in every possible way. Once he had spent time around Maura he realized that she was the perfect opposite to his brash, less educated older sister. She seemed to soften Jane and make the detective work harder at everything she did in a way that seemed to make her a better daughter, sister and friend. He saw a change in Jane that he never thought he would see. She was no longer content to be alone. She was now, more than ever, concerned with the welfare of others and did everything in her power, including tremendously ill-advised things, to ensure it.

Tommy had seen Jane's protectiveness of Maura first-hand, but what he hadn't realized came with it was an unparalleled jealous streak and ultimately underlying love.

Until now.

When the dark-suited detective came into the interrogation room, Tommy recognized him as someone Jane had gone through the academy with. He couldn't remember his name, but he remembered a few stories about him.

"So you're the Rizzoli we never hear about," he stood over Tommy, watching him closely. "No wonder. I see on your sheet you've got your skeletons."

The bald-headed detective chuckled at himself.

"Funny, right?" he smirked. "Skeletons in the closet? Yours. Your sister? In the closet herself."

Tommy was seething under the surface immediately.

"I bet she has a few skeletons in there with her," he continued in a mocking tone. "Must be getting pretty cramped in her closet what with the skeletons, the doctor and the doctor's…assets."

The way the detective said 'assets' was with as much lechery as Tommy had ever heard the word used. His righteous indignation came right out as he lunged at the cop.

"Shut your fucking mouth!" he said as he pushed the guy against the wall.

The door came flying open and in came Vince Korsak, reaching for Tommy with one hand as he pushed the disgusting detective back against the wall with force.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Korsak's voice echoed off the bare walls. "Get outta here, Crowe. This isn't your case."

_Ah, yes,_ Tommy thought. _Detective Darren Crowe. The vulture._ Tommy now remembered clearly the stories Jane told of how awful Crowe had been to her both at the academy and as they'd risen from beat cops to homicide detectives.

Crowe smirked at Tommy as he left the room. The younger Rizzoli would have liked nothing more than to knock the smirk right off of his face.

He knew that what he was feeling right now was nothing in comparison to how Jane felt when people demeaned Maura Isles. And in realizing this he understood just how much Maura meant to Jane. He suddenly felt like a complete ass for making a move on the doctor. It had been right in front of him since the day he met her—she would never belong to either the Rizzoli brothers. Not with their sister in the picture.

_To be continued…_


	5. Chapter 5: Jane

_Author's Note: I failed to mention that chapter 4 was set during "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" (2x12) which, if you haven't noticed, season 2 is my favorite season of the show thus far. This falls chronologically before all hell broke loose in the season 2 finale. -dkc_

**Chapter Five: Jane**

Maura Isles scared her to death. The depth of her feelings for the doctor continued to keep her up at night. She couldn't remember how long she had known that there was something inside her, hidden away, that pined for her best friend.

Maura Isles knew.

It was no longer flirting or _just_ flirting. This was obvious the first time Jane had felt herself leaning in to kiss Maura. She'd talked herself out of it with only a whisper of space left between them to spare. The second time it was Maura who leaned in. The doctor wouldn't have done that if she weren't positive that not only did she feel something for Jane, but that the brunette felt something for her.

It was no longer closeness or _just_ closeness. They had always been very comfortable in one another's space, but being in close proximity had morphed into intimacy. Jane knew there was no denying that how they sat together on the couch was abnormal for two grown women who were in a platonic relationship. They cuddled. Jane Rizzoli was a cuddler. Being with Maura beneath a throw on her couch made the detective very happy. However, she knew the intimacy was no longer innocent on either the part of she or Maura.

Maura Isles knew. And Jane Rizzoli was terrified.

Neither woman dated much. Jane was aware that her friend took dates home from time to time, needing the sexual intimacy that was missing in her life. It made the cop painfully jealous. At some point in the evolution of their friendship, Jane developed a sick feeling in her stomach whenever Maura spoke of her conquests. It wasn't that there was anything wrong with the stunningly beautiful doctor's behavior. She was a single woman who certainly had needs, but god, if it didn't cause Jane agony that she wanted to be the one who took care of those needs.

Her biggest revelation wasn't how she felt about Maura. No, she had been quite aware of her developing feelings. She had desperately denied them then attempted to downplay the affect they had on her. And then something snapped inside of her and she began allowing her feelings to come out to play.

They had almost kissed twice. They hug frequently. Every night they spend on the couch watching a movie ends with cuddling that they refuse to speak of. Even at Maura's home where there was a nice guestroom, the two friends often slept in the same bed.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise that it was in bed with Maura when Jane's awareness of how serious her feelings were emerged.

She woke at 4:37 a.m. The red letters on the clock seemed bright in the dark bedroom. As she attempted to move her arm she noticed the precarious position she was in. Her fingers twitched as her eyes came to rest where her hand was—Maura's exposed abdomen. Her body was pressed against Maura's left side, her chin nearly on the sleeping woman's shoulder, but it was her hand that brought butterflies to her stomach. She slowly pulled her hand across the smooth skin, slowly as not to wake the doctor. Her path was stalled when familiar manicured fingers stopped her progress.

"Jane."

The hoarse way the name formed in the woman's mouth was as much a testament to her state of waking as it was to the trauma of the day before. The detective had killed Charles Hoyt to save Maura. That reality hadn't quite set in for either of them. They hadn't talked about it before they went to sleep. They had both drank plenty of beer at Jane's birthday party and were more than buzzed when they fell into bed.

Dark brown eyes found the place on Maura's neck that was now covered with a small bandage. They had matching bandages and matching memories that would fuel nightmares for years to come.

Maura's entwined her fingers in Jane's, refusing to allow the scarred hand to retreat from her belly.

Following the line of Maura's neck to her jaw, Jane's eyes came to rest on the set she had come to know so well. She read the questions in her friend's eyes. She could sense both tiredness and trepidation.

Then her fingers twitched. The feelings she had attempted to push further and further down over the last year or more were surfacing. Maura's hand followed her own as she traced the soft skin and toned abdominal muscles.

Maura sighed.

Eyes remained locked. Where Jane would usually retreat, she hadn't. She continued a circular path around the navel and then traveled higher, pulling upward the cotton t-shirt she had loaned her friend to sleep in.

For a moment the detective's eyes went blank, seemingly glassy, as her mind was deep in thought. She was a million miles away.

"You saved my life," the honey-haired woman whispered.

Her eyes snapping back to life, Jane was startled by the words, though unable to deny the truth behind them. The look Maura gave her was what told her that Maura knew. There was no question that Jane loved Maura, the prison incident with Hoyt only further proof. But the way her hand traced patterns on bare skin, higher and higher until the underside of pert mounds were grazed, and the way she looked into the doctor's eyes gave away whatever secrets remained.

Jane Rizzoli was in love with Maura Isles and Maura knew.

_To be continued…_


	6. Chapter 6: Angela

_Author's Note: Your reviews have been absolutely wonderful! Without further ado, the much anticipated Mama Rizzoli. -dkc_

**Chapter Six: Angela**

She had never seen her daughter in this state. It was heartbreaking.

While Frankie had explained to her what happened in the warehouse, that Jane had been forced to shoot infamous mobster Paddy Doyle, Angela could not understand why Maura was acting as if this man meant the world to her. Didn't she understand that Jane had to protect herself and her partner? Didn't she care more for her best friend than a man she hadn't known until recently?

They were both pushing one another away, Jane to protect herself from the crushing grief of losing Maura over the shooting. Word traveled fast through the café. Everyone at the precinct now knew that Maura was the biological daughter of Paddy Doyle. They talked in hush tones about Jane's role in bringing Doyle down. It was also common knowledge that an FBI agent had inserted himself into the takedown of Doyle while essentially using Jane. There was much for a worried mother to be angry about in the whole mess.

Her biggest worry was the lost look she saw on her daughter's face anymore. Not even after that bastard Hoyt who had brutalized her, leaving her hands permanently scarred, had left Jane quite so unsure of herself. It was clear that she didn't know how to be Jane Rizzoli without Maura Isles.

Angela had asked the detective to tell her about the day she and Maura met. It was the first time she saw light return to Jane's eyes. However short-lived, it was a step. Jane retreated back within herself as the reality of their falling out once again set in.

It was an epiphany in the Division One Café that gave the matriarch the opportunity to speak openly with her oldest child about what was going on with Maura.

She watched from afar as her daughter sat drinking coffee alone. Dark circles under her eyes, Jane was clearly exhausted. Unaware that anyone was watching her, the detective began flipping through pictures on her phone. Angela casually began wiping down tables, inching close enough to see from behind what Jane saw on the small screen. While the impatient cop scanned through dozens rather quickly, the elder Rizzoli noticed when the pace changed. Stalled on one picture, the brunette seemed to be in a trance. Approaching from behind now with a fresh pot of coffee, Angela saw the image before Jane had noticed her and darkened the screen. It was an image of Jane and Maura. She couldn't place where it had been taken, but it was rather intimate. The detective had her arm wrapped around her friend and the doctor had leaned in to press a kiss to her cheek. The look on Jane's face both in the image and now as she sat drinking her coffee told a tale any mother would be able to read.

Jane Rizzoli was in love.

"Hey Ma," Jane wiped away a single tear after she'd closed her screen at her mother's presence.

Angela filled her daughter's cup before sitting down opposite her.

"Janie."

The comprehension in Angela's tone caused Jane to open up. If her mother knew, there was no sense avoiding speaking.

"God, Ma, I screwed up," she said, running a hand through raven tresses.

"Honey, you did what you had to do in the moment. You can't be faulted for protecting yourself and Detective Frost."

She placed a sympathetic hand over the distraught cop's. Jane shook her head, not out of argument, regardless of her belief that she had been wrong, but out of clarification. She wasn't talking about the shooting.

"No, not that," she wouldn't make eye contact. "I did something stupid because I was afraid. And now between that and the shooting, Maura is never going to forgive me."

Shaking her head at whatever it was, Angela refused to believe there was anything Maura couldn't forgive Jane of.

"She will, Jane. She needs time."

"You don't understand. I was scared and I did what I thought might make things clear to me," she looked at her mother and realized she was going to have to spell it out. "The FBI agent, Gabriel Dean, he was at the warehouse that day because of me. He followed me there."

Now that she'd heard the name, Angela could make a bit more sense of it. Gabriel Dean had been the agent assigned to the Charles Hoyt case. He and Jane had a history both professionally and personally. She nodded her head, encouraging Jane to continue.

"I slept with him and I mentioned Paddy Doyle. That's how he knew to be at the warehouse or at least knew to follow me," her voice held a depth of shame her mother could never remember hearing from her.

_Oh, I see_, Angela thought. _Oh, Jane_.

If Jane was running from something and ran right into bed with Gabriel Dean, it was obvious what she was running from. Maura.

"Nothing you did is unforgivable," she assured her.

"You don't get it, Ma!" she was losing grip. "I love her. And it scares the shit out of me. So I did what I thought would be easy and it ended up fucking everything up."

Confirmation of what Angela had suspected came far quicker than she expected.

"You'll get through this, baby. But you have to be honest with her. You have to tell her why," Angela insisted.

"How the hell do I do that if she won't speak to me? She won't even be in the same room with me."

"When the time is right, you'll know. When the time is right, she'll listen to what you have to tell her, honey," Angela felts tears welling in her own eyes at the thought.

When you have only one daughter, a mother knows when something is different. Angela Rizzoli had noticed these differences in her daughter more and more. She had noticed how genuinely happy she was when with the doctor. She had seen how close they had grown and while she didn't know the specifics of it, all she truly wanted was for her daughter to find lasting happiness. She may not be of a generation or a religion that readily welcomed a relationship like theirs, but then again, no relationship she had ever seen was anything like that between her girls. What she was taught to believe and what she actually believed were on differing sides now.

_To be continued…_


	7. Chapter 7: Susie

_Author's Note: As much as I loved season 2, I despised season 4. There was too much Casey nonsense and too much of a Jane on screen that didn't seem true to her character. And Lydia, god, what a terrible storyline! So, don't expect to see much of it as we make our way to sweat lodge revelations. Anyway… On to one of the most smile-inducing characters on the show: Senior Criminalist Susie Chang. Though she may be smile inducing, this piece won't be. It takes place sometime near the end of season 4, you'll see shades of various season 3 episodes, too. -dkc_

**Chapter Seven: Susie**

Susie Chang couldn't help but care about her boss. Maura Isles was one of the most genuine, kind and brilliant people she had ever met. The criminalist considered it a privilege to have been hired by the M.E. and couldn't imagine doing anything else.

For all her trying, there was one thing that Susie couldn't do. While she acknowledged her care and concern for her supervisor sat on the border between professional and personal, she allowed herself this. If there was one thing she knew was unprofessional, it was her fascination with the doctor's friendship with the beautiful Detective Rizzoli.

Having a front row seat to the most horrendous cases of the last several years meant also having a view to the internal drama that played out within the Boston Police Department as they solved those cases. Additionally, Susie had seen cases that directly involved members of the BPD team. From the fear-fueled encounters with Charles Hoyt, one of her first cases in her current position, to her own boss being held at knifepoint by a man she believed to be worthy of her attention and affection, the cases had opened her eyes to things she shouldn't have known as a lab employee. She saw the catfight that ensued after the officer shot Dr. Isles' mobster father. She worked under immense pressure when Rizzoli's brother was charged with a crime he didn't commit. And those were just the cases.

Susie had a front seat to the personal struggles and triumphs of the team she worked with as well. She had seen the rarely emotional Detective Rizzoli walk through the halls of the precinct; catatonic and as if she were a ghost of her former self, after she had shot Paddy Doyle and the doctor had stopped speaking to her. She had heard the quiet tears the medical examiner shed in her office when she didn't know anyone was still in the lab, tears over the complicated and unexpected relationship that developed with her birth mother and half sister. She'd watched as all of the Rizzoli clan, Maura included, barely kept their eyes open in the days after Tommy's baby boy came into the world.

The fascination remained for whatever was going on between her boss and the cop. And there was no doubt that something was going on. At first she could believe that they were merely best friends. Two women who spent as much time together as they did were bound to be close, but things had slowly changed. She sensed a scenario between the two of them where one stepped forward, offering herself in some way that was ancillary to what they already had and then stepping back to await the other's decision on whether or not they might go forward together. They took turns doing this as far as she could tell. It drove her crazy to not know where it stood between them. Were they or weren't they?

There were moments when what they were in terms of their relationship was completely clear. After the shooting? Definitely not together in any way, much less as something more than friends. When Detective Cooper joined the homicide department only to be pulled away to a lengthy undercover assignment for a drug task force? Not together, but damn did they want to be. How did she know this? The way Detective Rizzoli watched the interaction between Cooper and Isles was like a predator ready to protect her prey from any other wild animal. After the parking garage came crashing down with Tommy Rizzoli and Detective Frost inside? She was certain they'd made the leap then. Her certainty was aided by knowing that Rizzoli had called it off with the military boyfriend of hers, a boyfriend that didn't seem at all committed to the detective as far as Susie was concerned. Sure, he came back and she got back together with him, but it was obvious that the question the two best friends continued to ask one another lingered in the air always. It was as if at any moment one of them would say yes and put an end to the charade.

She wasn't sure when the moment came, but prior to the death of Detective Frost, something drastic happened. It was as if the world stopped teetering the way it had when they were engaged in this will they or won't they drama. It seemed as if the decision had been made that they wouldn't move forward.

It was inevitable that she would overhear something. She was constantly walking in on private conversations without meaning to interrupt. She had seen plenty of things that could be misread as intimacy. Maybe they were intimate. But the conversation she heard that day explained a lot.

"Jane, I don't understand why this is necessary," she heard through the partially open office door.

"Please don't ask me this, Maur," the detective's voice seemed smaller than Susie had ever heard it.

The silence felt tense even to the woman on the outside of the conversation. She knew she should walk away, give them privacy, but she couldn't help her own curiosity.

"Do you love him?" the M.E.'s words were barely audible through the door.

Susie put a hand over her mouth. She didn't need context to know whom Dr. Isles was asking about. Casey. The detective had been seen in the precinct with the soldier. It was off and it was on. And rumor had it, the man had proposed, but the cop hadn't given him an answer.

"I love the idea of him," came the weighty reply. "And this—whatever this is—can't be."

_This?!_ she wondered.

"Why not? Why can't it be?" Susie knew this tone; it was the tone of the frustrated woman she knew so well.

"Maur…" there came a rustling sound behind the door and Susie was forced to back up a step in fear someone was coming toward where she was standing.

"I love you."

The criminalist felt tears welling in her eyes as she listened to the expression out of Maura's mouth. _God, these two women_, she thought.

"I know," the detective's voice broke with emotion as she said it.

The M.E.'s office door flew open and out walked a clearly distraught Detective Rizzoli who saw Susie immediately.

"Chang," she nodded and then made her way out of the morgue.

What broke Susie's heart was the soft crying she heard coming from the doctor's office. She knew nothing she could say would make it better so she did the only thing she could think to do, reaching for the doorknob and closing it to give her boss her privacy.

_To be continued…_


	8. Chapter 8: Frankie

_Author's Note: Clearly this takes place after the events of "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone" (4x16) and some time before Jack entered the picture. In this piece italics signify a flashback. -dkc_

**Chapter Eight: Frankie**

His eyes followed Maura, unable to let go of the feeling of having kissed her, as she moved easily around her house. Sunday dinners could be chaotic yet she never seemed rattled by the drama of the Rizzoli family. He watched her running water to clean a few pots, her back to everyone across the room at the dining room table. His eyes took in her every movement. But the most significant movement came when Jane joined the doctor at the sink and her hand came to rest at the small of Maura's back.

He had always known his sister's proclivities. He accepted them far easier than Jane did. It had never mattered to him. That is, it had never mattered until his attraction for Maura came into the picture. He and Jane had never been interested in the same woman. In fact, when Jane became serious with Casey, Frankie had taken the opportunity for what it was and moved on Maura. He never imagined Tommy would give him away. He certainly didn't think the medical examiner would turn him down.

It stung to watch the two women interacting so effortlessly in a room where they were far from alone. It was only a matter of time before they embraced what existed between them and how special it was. They had been denying it for far too long.

The night it was all made crystal clear came back into his mind:

"_Yeah, hold on!" he hollered at the door while toweling off his hair._

_Opening the door he was surprised to see his sister. It was nearly midnight. Her eyes were the perfect mirrors of the wildness of her hair. She was furious._

"_Janie?" he approached the question delicately._

_Before he could receive a response his sister threw a left hook that connected square with his jaw. As he howled, she attempted to shake the pain out of her hand._

"_Jesus, Jane!" his hand was on his jaw, his eyes now matching the anger in hers. "What the hell?!"_

"_I should be asking that!" she kicked the door shut with her foot to take their argument further into his apartment. "What the fuck did you think would happen?"_

_It all suddenly made sense to him. This was about Maura. Of course it was about Maura. Jane had warned him not to go there. She had told him that Maura was family, but it was more than that. God, why hadn't he seen it?_

"_She tell you she rejected me, huh? Hell of a lotta good it did me."_

_He'd turned his back on her and walked to his kitchen to grab a bag of peas from his freezer. He threw a bag at her for her hand._

"_I couldn't care less if she rejected you. Serves you right!" she winced as she placed the cold peas on her stinging hand._

"_Right," he said sardonically, sitting down on a stool._

"_What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Jane was shorter than usual on patience. _

"_You know why she did it, right?" he shook his head at her. "Same reason you came over here and clocked me."_

"_I came over here because you're an idiot, Frankie."_

_The younger Rizzoli was impatient, too. He had put up with enough of Jane's denial for a lifetime._

"_You know you love her, Janie," he attempted to be a considerate, caring brother, but he was still sore from Maura having rejected him. "I kiss your best friend and your first response is to slug me. Nothing jealous about that."_

_Jane shook her head, running her good hand through her mess of hair. He would later know that she was quickly becoming familiar with pregnancy hormones. Her going from anger to wanting to cry in a matter of minutes was proof. She was trying to keep her tears in check._

"_You think what you're doing is fair?" he pressed when she didn't respond. "You're gonna marry Casey while you're in love with your best friend?"_

_The tears Jane was holding in started to breach her eyelids. _

"_I'm not," she didn't explain._

_Frankie had no idea what to say to this. It was news to him and likely not something even their mother knew. She would have told him._

"_Janie…" he took a step toward her._

"_No," she stepped back and shook her head, not at all comfortable with all the emotions coursing through her. "And stay the hell away from Maura!"_

The night Jane had walked out of his apartment he thought something monumental might shift between she and Maura. Of course, he didn't know at the time that Jane was pregnant. That certainly changed things. Or did it?

He glanced over at them again and saw his sister leaning down to whisper something in Maura's ear. The doctor laughed that beautiful laugh that had for so long captivated him. Instead of the jealousy that he expected, he smiled with a genuine happiness for what had been so obvious and now seemed to be.

_To be continued…_


	9. Chapter 9: Nina

_Author's Note: Takes place during "Lost and Found" (5x8) when Jane and Tasha are under attack in the warehouse. I hope that season 6 brings us more Nina. She is a fascinating character and I would love to get to know more about her. In terms of this story, of all the characters I think hers offers a singular opportunity to write the perspective of someone who saw Jane and Maura's relationship for what it is almost immediately. The next update may be a few days away, fair warning. -dkc_

**Chapter Nine: Nina**

Nina Holiday had been on the job for a single day when one of her colleagues was placed in danger, having placed herself there alone, and ended up hospitalized.

She liked Detective Rizzoli. In fact, she found the detective to be the most welcoming of everyone she had met at BPD. She, of all people, could have given Nina the cold shoulder, but she didn't. It was not lost on her that she had stepped into a situation where many would look at her as a replacement for a beloved officer.

Getting a sense of her surroundings meant trying to understand the various connections, friendships and relationships of her new co-workers. She didn't need anyone to point out the familial connection of Frankie and Jane, they looked too much alike with similar mannerisms and personalities. Korsak had explained that Jane had been his partner once and it was quite obvious that they were close. Who she couldn't figure out was Dr. Isles.

Arriving at a scene where a teenager and Det. Rizzoli had been injured, Nina saw Dr. Isles with a dark-haired man. She couldn't deduce whether he was her boyfriend because at one moment she seemed to be affectionate and appreciative of him and the next moment she was at Rizzoli's side, holding her hand and clearly emotional. While she had seen how close they were earlier in the day, she assumed they were just friends. She now wondered if she had underestimated their connection. But if she had, who was this man with the doctor?

It didn't surprise Nina when Dr. Isles climbed into the ambulance with Detective Rizzoli. The disappointment on the man who had accompanied her to the scene's face told a story of its own.

When she returned to the station, she quickly noticed that Frankie was despondent. She worried that something else had happened.

"Is everything okay? Is it Jane?" she brought Frankie out of his own thoughts.

"Um, no, I guess not," his voice was near breaking with sadness.

"What happened?" she was very concerned.

He looked around the bullpen suspiciously and gestured toward BRIC. She followed him into the space, empty of officers. She wondered what was so sensitive that the possibility of listening ears was worrisome.

"Jane's going to be fine," he spoke quietly. "But she, uh, was pregnant."

It didn't require explaining. Nina knew two things instinctively: Female officers faced hurdles when it came to motherhood—she guessed very few people within the department knew about the pregnancy—and if Frankie said 'was pregnant,' Jane had lost the baby.

"Oh," she hardly knew this man, but she placed a caring hand on his forearm. "I'm so sorry."

He looked as if he might cry. Shaking his head to ward off tears, he told her he was going over to the hospital. She nodded and watched him go.

Nina sat at work for several hours watching cops come and go, whispering to each other about the 'reckless' detective who was lying in a hospital bed. As her shift came to an end, she found herself seeking out a florist in the foreign town. She made her way to the hospital without a second thought.

There was something she already admired in Jane Rizzoli. She also felt an obligation to her as one of the only other female detectives. She was also curious about the courageous woman who did her job to the extreme.

Arriving on the floor of Jane's room, Nina paused outside the door and peeked inside. She wasn't surprised to see Maura Isles next to the detective's bed. She was taken aback by the doctor's hand entwined with Jane's, her other hand resting on the woman's forearm. She could tell that the doctor was quietly crying. Giving her a moment, Nina waited before clearing her throat to announce her entrance, quietly as not to startle the doctor.

"Detective Holiday," Maura gestured to an empty chair, her hand returning quickly to Jane's arm.

"Please, call me Nina."

Sitting down, she looked at the sleeping detective and back to Maura.

"How is she?" Nina asked.

"She will be very sore. They've given her something for the pain. She will be okay," she spoke with lingering and unavoidable sadness.

"Frankie told me about the pregnancy," the newest member of the team revealed.

She was trained to observe people's reactions yet she wasn't prepared to respond to the doctor's emotions. She noted the tears welling up in her eyes, the attempt to swallow down the building sob in her throat and the way she tightened her grip on the sleeping woman's arm. But it was the way Maura looked at Jane that was most telling. Nina couldn't remember the last time she saw a look with as much love behind it. Whatever questions remained, Nina knew without a doubt that Maura loved Jane.

"I'm very sorry," Nina said, Maura nodded. "Is there anything I can do for either of you?"

Looking away from Jane into the brown eyes of her new colleague, Maura acknowledged the truth. She couldn't bring herself to deny her truth to this woman. She loved Jane Rizzoli.

"Not currently," she offered a slight smile. "But thank you."

Nina stood and looked again at the injured detective.

"If you do, I'll be back at the precinct."

Maura didn't respond, once again looking at Jane. Nina turned and left the hospital room. She closed the door behind her to allow them a small gift of privacy.

_To be continued…_


	10. Chapter 10: Maura

_Author's Note: I wish I could point out every single one of you who left a review that I found inspiring and fuel to continue this story. It would be a HUGE author's note in that case. Please know how much your reviews mean to me. There are a handful of you who review everything I ever write and I am indebted to your kindness. There will be 2 more chapters of this piece, another one from Jane and a conclusion of some kind. This all takes place in the season 5 for so those of you who live in countries that haven't seen it yet, I apologize and offer this note as a spoiler warning. I apologize for not giving that warning prior to the last chapter. -dkc_

**Chapter Ten: Maura**

She hadn't realized how badly she wanted to be the one to help her best friend raise a child until the possibility had been torn from her. She hadn't realized that she was hiding from her grief by entertaining the notion of the relationship with Jack until she spent those painstaking hours awaiting news of Jane after she had jumped from that bridge and disappeared with the current.

She would have ended things with Jack had his situation not ended it for them. She embraced her grief, allowing herself to finally feel it while disguising it with the fact that she had been through a breakup. Grieving for a child that wasn't her own was a complexity she couldn't talk about with anyone, not even Jane.

After drinks at the Dirty Robber the night things ended with Jack, Maura couldn't bring herself to refuse Jane's offer to stay over. Being alone in her big house on a night like that was more than the doctor could have handled.

"Jane?" she asked softly, not sure if the detective had fallen asleep or was resting her eyes. They'd ended up on Maura's couch drinking wine.

"Hmm?" the woman responded without opening her eyes.

"How are you able to not feel like the emotions of losing the baby will consume you? Especially if you don't talk about it."

She had stood silently while countless parents identified their deceased children. From toddlers to young adults, the crushing grief of a parent losing a child was consistent. They each looked the same. They each said the same things, if anything at all, as their emotions took control of their bodies.

She had watched those parents, calmly explained cause of death to them even, but none of it had prepared her for having to tell her injured best friend as she awoke in a hospital that she had lost the life growing inside her.

Opening only one eye and raising an eyebrow, Jane looked at the doctor with suspicion.

"Where did that come from?" she asked.

Sighing, Maura leaned her head back against the couch.

"There's so much we don't talk about," she didn't hesitate to broaden the scope of the conversation. "I don't know how you can keep it all in."

Maura wondered, but didn't say, if there were things Jane didn't feel she could talk to her friend about at all.

"You can tell me anything, you know," Jane opened her eyes and turned to the medical examiner.

No, I can't, she thought.

When Maura didn't respond, she knew Jane could take that a variety of ways. What she didn't expect was where the detective's thought process would take her and their conversation.

"I could never see myself raising a kid with Casey," she said.

The doctor was quite stunned. She knew that Jane had struggled with the concept of being married to Casey, but she had never mentioned what she thought of Casey as a prospective father.

"Not the way I could—" Jane stopped herself.

"Not the way you could what?" she desperately wanted to know what her friend had stopped herself from admitting.

"Not like I could with you."

Maura had no words. She could only turn to look at Jane in wonder. This woman she knew so well still managed to surprise her.

At times they could look into one another's eyes and the universe ceased to exist. This was one of those times. Nothing else mattered. Not Casey, not the baby and certainly not Jack. For Maura, her world was this gorgeous woman next to her.

"You surprise me, Jane Rizzoli."

"I was afraid I might freak you out," Jane sighed, unsure what the honey-haired doctor was thinking.

There hadn't been much space between them on the couch to begin with, but Maura eliminated what remained. She needed to be physically close to Jane for what she was about to say. She placed a hand over the closest scarred palm, easily linking their fingers.

"Jane," she began. "Raising a child with you was an idea I quickly came to embrace. Letting go of that has been harder than I ever expected."

Tilting her head toward Maura, Jane's cheek was on the M.E.'s shoulder.

"The thought of hurting you terrifies me," Maura could barely make out the concession Jane was making.

"It shouldn't. You would never hurt me. I trust you."

The doctor hadn't anticipated mention of the pregnancy leading here. They were subtly discussing what had been hanging over them for longer than either truly knew.

"I'm not strong enough, Maur."

When that raspy voice cracked, tears began to flow. Maura immediately pulled the detective closer and held her as she cried. Her comforting arms calmed Jane. The tears slowed as the medical examiner kissed Jane's right temple and then her forehead. She used her thumb to wipe away stray tears before pressing gentle kisses to each closed eyelid. Resting her own forehead against Jane's, she could almost hear the thoughts cascading through the detective's busy mind. Pressing another kiss to that very spot of her forehead and then slightly lower at the bridge of her nose, Maura's reward was the dark eyes that opened to look at her.

"Maura..." Jane whispered.

Unable to prevent herself from following her natural inclination, Maura pressed a soft kiss to Jane's lips. She was taken aback when those lips responded by deepening the kiss. When it did end, both women were flushed and without words. It took a moment of gazing into Maura's eyes for the brunette to gather the courage to speak.

Maura listened to words she had wanted Jane to say and despaired at Jane's fear of what they meant.

"You can't possibly know how much I want this," she spoke. "But so much has happened. Casey, the baby, Frost...what if I can't handle it all? What if I'm not enough?"

As hard as the words were to hear, Maura understood. They had both been through so much.

"You can. You are."

The doctor felt tears running down her own cheeks as she spoke her own truth: "Faith is an abstract, fleeting construct that I don't accept. Not in a God, not in a spiritual power. But I have faith in you Jane Rizzoli. Don't you forget that. Don't you ever forget that."

_To be continued…_


	11. Chapter 11: Jane

_Author's Note: If you haven't seen "Family Matters" (5x18), the finale, this may not immediately make sense. I'm borrowing heavily from the final scene, which you can watch on youTube, for what that's worth. I highly encourage it. Though, if it were me, I would have picked the Ambrosia song "You're the Only Woman (You &amp; I)" to bring it full circle. ;) And as you can see, I believe that the final scene was less about Maura's so-called sweat lodge revelations and more about what Jane realized about where she is in her life. Be ready for the feels. -dkc_

**Chapter Eleven: Jane**

She had been genuinely surprised when Korsak and Maura revealed the scholarship in Frost's name. She should have expected something as generous from these two people that meant so much to her. And of course, the scholarship had come from the second of Maura's revelations at the sweat lodge. The first being how they solved the case, the second being Frost, so what were the rest? Does everyone visit a sweat lodge and come away with revelations the way Maura did? To some degree it was as astonishing as if Maura had told her that God spoke to her.

The two friends sat down at their usual table at the Dirty Robber, across from each other where their eyes could do an equal amount of the talking.

"Do you want to hear my revelation about you?" Maura offered before Jane even went there.

"No, I got my own," she sighed before beginning and dropped eye contact for a moment. "I was so focused on work and family and you…and you were right, I was afraid of what would happen if I couldn't keep my feelings in that little box. But I don't have to be afraid anymore. Got a message. Everything is going to be okay. So I know, no matter what happens, I can handle it."

Because of her honesty, Jane felt unbelievably vulnerable. Looking at her best friend, though, the love reflected back at her was comforting.

"Jane Rizzoli is strong enough to handle it," Maura spoke softly and smiled.

"Yeah."

While Maura said that this was her sweat lodge revelation about Jane, too, the detective didn't quite believe her. However, she didn't press. If Maura had discovered something else about Jane, the cop would rather not know right now. For the first time in a very long time things made sense to her. She was content.

They sat at the bar bickering and drinking, teasing and sharing stories. They ventured back toward the bar to visit with family and friends, question Tasha relentlessly. When Jane looked over and finally saw the tiredness on the doctor's face, she insisted it was time to call it a night.

"Do you want to come over?" Jane asked Maura after they had left Tasha with Angela for a ride home.

The slight tilt to her head and the way the M.E. bit her bottom lip gave Jane every indication that Maura was afraid of her own vulnerability. They had both been wavering in recent weeks and they instinctively knew it about one another.

Jane took Maura's hand.

It was the unsaid between them that convinced Maura to follow Jane home. The detective let them into her apartment, tossing her blazer over a chair and going straight to the fridge. She came back with beer for them both. The dark blonde had kicked off her heels and taken her usual place on the couch where she attempted to get comfortable despite the skirt. With the two of them, everything important always seemed to transpire on a couch. Tonight would be no different.

"Sorry I'm out of wine," Jane said as she took her own place next to her friend, sitting comfortably close.

"I don't mind," Maura twisted the cap off and flicked it toward the coffee table like a seasoned beer drinker.

"You did that like a pro!" Jane smirked, doing the same to open her beer.

"I've had a good teacher."

They both smiled as they enjoyed their drinks. Neither said anything, both seemingly lost in thought.

"I can handle this, too, you know?" Jane's words weren't met with the same incredulity they might have been even days before.

"Jane…" Maura sighed, turning her head to look into the dark orbs that could mesmerize her in the most innocent of circumstances and were now gleaming with an emotion she wasn't sure she should interpret.

_Jane Rizzoli is strong enough to handle it_, the detective repeated in her mind.

She softly touched Maura's cheek with the back of her fingers. Wisps of golden hair were moved behind a delicate ear. She placed her beer down and used her now free hand to brush against the bare upper arm exposed by the sleeveless pink top her friend was wearing. She heard the woman's breath catch. She caught the gaze of hazel eyes, finding a depth of emotion there.

"I'm in love with you," she mumbled as if speaking with clarity would make it any more or less true. It didn't matter. Maura knew.

"I know," Maura whispered.

When the doctor's hand covered the one touching her own cheek, something inside Jane finally gave way. She would allow herself this.

"I can handle this," she rasped.

A slight nod was all Maura was able to express before Jane made a move. She pressed an ardent kiss to supple, glossed lips. Unlike their last kiss, Maura tasted of beer. As Jane permitted her eyes to close, she felt the M.E.'s hand tangle in her hair and ultimately cling to the back of her neck. Jane couldn't suppress a moan when the lithe tongue slipped past her lips and touched the roof of her mouth. She wanted to pull the doctor to her, but knew that the skirt would be an issue.

"Oh," came the only word from friend as their mouths parted.

Jane's eyes were dark with arousal. She had no misgivings, no, not anymore. How long had she been in love with this beautiful woman? How long had she seen her in a skirt like this one and admired her sexy legs? How long had she looked into hazel eyes and wondered if this could be? The answer was it had been far too long to be reluctant now.

She pressed another kiss to swollen lips. She didn't deepen it this time. Her mouth moved along the doctor's jaw to the place beneath her ear. She could feel the woman's heartbeat there. Her kisses trailed further down an alluring neck. The somewhat high collar of the pink blouse stopped Jane. Pulling away and looking at the spark in Maura's eyes, she knew what she wanted.

"Let's get out of these clothes."

_To be continued…_


	12. Chapter 12: Conclusion

_Author's Note: I can't believe I'm already to the conclusion. This story has flown by for me. On to other things, I suppose. Thank you all for your support, reviews and notes throughout this. I hope the conclusion lives up to the perspectives of the characters. I didn't increase the rating to M. Should I? -dkc_

**Chapter Twelve: Conclusion**

Jane stood from the couch, disentangling herself from Maura. She made her way down the short hallway to her bedroom without looking back. She knew Maura would follow.

The doctor gave her friend a moment, flipping off lights and dropping their beer bottles in the kitchen. She wasn't expecting the detective to change her mind; she was simply giving her a chance to wrap her head around what was happening. She knew Jane Rizzoli's beautiful mind. It required this time to process.

When she walked into the bedroom, Jane was standing in the dark looking toward the window. A streetlight provided the only stream of light in the room. She seemed lost in thought.

"Jane," Maura hummed, approaching the woman from behind and placing her hands on her shoulders before running them the full length of her arms.

Turning her face, the doctor leaned her head against the taller woman's shoulder blade.

"I have no expectations," she whispered.

This brought Jane around to face Maura, her hands releasing the doctors and cupping her kind, understanding face. She spoke no words with her mouth; she looked at her best friend, and the woman she had loved for longer than she could remember. Tilting her head down, she connected with lips she was finding increasingly addictive. The kiss was slow and sensual. For the first time their kiss brought to the surface the reality of a path forward.

To kiss another and know that they love you unconditionally and with their entire being was a revelation to both women. It had never happened for either of them like this before.

Maura felt steady hands undoing her blouse, the kiss broken as the silky item was removed from her. Her skin was hypersensitive to Jane's every touch. The very touch of fingers to skin as they roamed across her chest and the material of her bra made her knees tremble. She gasped when Jane spun her around to unzip her skirt.

Standing in little to cover her, she felt Jane's eyes on every inch of her body. She looked up to find those desperate eyes piercing her own. She could no longer be the patient partner, the woman allowing to be had. She grasped Jane's hips, undoing her belt quickly. Once her trousers were unbuttoned, they opened enough for Maura's hands to reach in for the bottom hem of the detective's shirt. Grasping its edges, she pulled it swiftly over Jane's head; messing up long, raven locks as she did so. The detective pushed her own pants to the floor, stepping out of them and toward Maura. A searing kiss ensued.

"Only what you're comfortable with," Maura breathed when their mouths parted. "I know you can handle anything, but only what you're comfortable with."

Nodding her acceptance, Jane allowed Maura to take her hand and lead her around to the side of the bed where she turned down the bed. The M.E. crawled gracefully into the bed, seductive without meaning to be. Jane followed.

For several minutes they simply held one another. As they looked into each other's eyes, a conversation unfolded that had been years coming. The room was silent while their hearts spilled out.

Their lovemaking began slowly, neither willing to push the limits of their emotional states. It wasn't slow due to reticence; it was slow because there was no reason for it to be otherwise. They had waited this long, waiting a bit longer for absolution would not break them. Soft moans were savored, a series of firsts were filed away in sweet memories they would indulge in for years to come.

Without meaning to think of her past lovers, Maura Isles found herself concluding that no person had ever given her body the careful contemplation and reverence that Jane was. But then again, no lover had ever loved her with the sincerity and unbroken assurance that Jane had. She was discovering with finally knowing the depths of Jane's love, no one else had ever loved her wholeheartedly.

Jane didn't need to revisit past loves to know that her one true love was under her spell in this bed. With every touch of alabaster skin, every gentle or passionate kiss and every sultry noise from the doctor's mouth, Jane was bound to this woman. She would never love another human being the way she loved Maura.

They reached a crescendo _together_—like every lesser event that had happened over the years of their friendship. Together is where they were meant to be.

Maura curled into Jane once they had both caught their breath and found their bodies relaxing. She draped a leg over the supine detective and pressed a kiss to her shoulder.

"Is this what it felt like in the sweat lodge?" Jane's voice was gravelly.

Smiling, Maura tilted up her chin and kissed the woman's earlobe.

"Perspiration?" she hummed.

Jane chuckled and turned her head to press a kiss to the crown of the doctor's head.

"The whole 'Boom!' head exploding thing?" she asked.

Maura used her foot to pull Jane's lower half even closer, effectively trapped the lithe body.

"I don't believe it was the head this time…" she purred against Jane's neck.

"Listen to you with your innuendo," Jane smirked, wiggling teasingly against Maura's strong leg. "That's not what I meant."

"What did you mean?" the doctor became serious again.

"The weight thing, like everything that was weighing on me doesn't matter. That _this_—" she smiled at the thought, "—is going to be okay."

The doctor took a moment to collect her thoughts before answering the question; she owed Jane this.

"The things that have happened—Frost, the baby, Casey, Tasha, the cases—they'll never stop mattering. They will always be a part of you, of us," she nuzzled Jane's neck. "Eventually they will stop hurting as much. Eventually when you see Frost, it'll be in his legacy—the scholarship, the BPD, your career. Eventually when you think of Casey you won't feel the heaviness."

"And the baby?" her voice cracked with emotion.

"We'll get there," Maura's heart stung. "Together."

_-finis-_


End file.
